Our southernmost and westernmost metropolis, Invercargill sits on a river financial institution on the centre of the fertile Southland Plains. The town’s authentic coat of arms tells us all we have to find out about what underwrote its prosperity; it encompasses a plough, a sheaf of corn, a bale of wool and a ship to hold these items abroad.
The area was a web site of early interplay between Māori and Europeans — notably, whalers and missionaries. Early improvement within the space centred on the port at Bluff however Invercargill noticed a development spurt following the invention of gold to the north in Central Otago within the 1860s. A increase in agricultural exports within the Eighteen Eighties inspired the expansion of farming within the area. The ensuing circulate of wealth allowed architects, notably Frederick Burwell, to fill the town’s industrial core utterly with effective two- and three-storey buildings in varied Classical Revival kinds. The end result was a streetscape with a continuity and coherence that radiates from images of the period and which might now be skilled by Kiwis solely in truncated kind in Ōamaru.
The town’s continued confidence was evident even because the twentieth century noticed newer historicist kinds grafted into the Italianate road frontages — the romantic Queen Anne-style Alexandra Buildings (c. 1901) by Burwell’s pupil Cuthbert Brodrick, Edmund Wilson’s Edwardian baroque City Corridor and Theatre (1906), and the monumental, American-influenced First Presbyterian Church by localborn however US-trained John Mair. Mair left Invercargill however continued to play a key function following his appointment as Authorities Architect in 1923 — his Regulation Courts (1938) and Put up Workplace (1941) leavening the streetscape with artwork deco and straight-laced moderne insertions. A brand new era of native designers, led by Allan Ford and Edward Smith, emerged within the inter-war interval, additional stripping again the ornament.
Following visits within the mid- Nineteen Sixties, the Rolling Stones famously declared Invercargill “the arsehole of the world” however the post-war interval was a good time for structure within the metropolis. As with different provincial centres, Invercargill benefited from the wool increase sparked by the Korean Warfare within the early Nineteen Fifties. The architectural legacy of that point is an abundance of modernist gems — significantly church buildings and group services — by corporations corresponding to Ford, Grey, Derbie and Hurd, Smith, Rice, Lawrence and Mollison, McArthur and Boag, Barham and Barham, Lew Simpson, and Arthur Milne.
As in Dunedin, the native scene is characterised by long-standing lineages that survive to the current day, a number of of the town’s present corporations having roots extending again to the modernist heyday. Agriculture continues to energy the area — the dairy manufacturing unit at Edendale, a brief drive from Invercargill, is New Zealand’s longest-running plant and one of many world’s largest — and the Zero Charges Scheme on the Southern Institute of Expertise has helped preserve the town centre energetic. There’s a sprinkling of tasks by big-city corporations however the locals nonetheless dominate. The streetscape is now a patchwork of architectural kinds spanning again to the 1860s however its architects have, for probably the most half, continued to obey the cardinal rule of city design: construct to the lot line. There are fears that the large Invercargill Central improvement would possibly draw life off the road however the metropolis has a protracted historical past of arcade purchasing. The town centre is compact however remarkably intact and conjures a surprisingly urbane vibe.
Whereas different provincial centres, corresponding to Whanganui, have a wealthy presence in our architectural historical past, Invercargill is notable by its absence. Peter Shaw’s historical past of New Zealand structure contains simply 4 of its buildings. Why? Maybe as a result of, not like these of close by Dunedin, Southland-based architects hardly ever labored elsewhere. The town presents a smorgasbord of nice buildings; for nearly all, each they and their designers are largely unknown past the town. Invercargill reminds us that there are nonetheless treasures to be unearthed in our architectural historical past.
THE ITINERARY
1. 1878 – All Saints Anglican Church
507 Dee StreetFrederick Burwell
Invercargill was based in 1856 and its first church buildings have been in-built timber. Within the 1870s, a second wave of church constructing noticed church buildings constructed in additional substantial supplies; All Saints was one of many first within the metropolis to be accomplished. Its designer, Scottishborn Frederick Burwell, who had lived for some years in Queenstown (see Structure NZ July/Aug 2021), made vital contributions in Invercargill earlier than shifting on to work in varied Australian cities, together with Freemantle. The wood Parish Corridor was accomplished in 1905 by Burwell’s apprentice, Cuthbert Brodrick (see itemizing 4). Take a look at Burwell’s former Financial institution of New Zealand (1879) on ‘Financial institution Nook’ at 1 Tay Avenue.
2. 1889 – Water Tower
101 Doon StreetWilliam Sharp, Borough Engineer
A powerful civic gadget from the Victorian interval, the Tower was the very flat metropolis’s main supply of pressurised water provide and, right this moment, nonetheless serves as a backup. It was designed by William Sharp, a former Public Works Division engineer. Restoration tasks within the late ’80s and once more lately have respectively restored the façade and improved earthquake resilience. These considering shows of brick craftsmanship must also try the adjoining Water Works Management Constructing, and the neighbouring scalloped concrete water reservoirs really feel like a little bit little bit of Palm Springs modernism. Collectively, they kind a dramatic precinct, showcasing the unity of magnificence and utility.
3. 1896 – Victoria Railway Lodge
1-3 Leven StreetMcKenzie and Gilbertson
The railway line from Invercargill (see itemizing 11) was one of many nation’s earliest — a lot in order that its first rails have been wood. Most centres quickly had accommodations helpful to their stations, and this one was designed by native agency McKenzie and Gilbertson within the Edwardian Free Model; it borrows components from the Italianate, Queen Anne and Baroque Revival kinds. Prolonged, trimmed and altered over time, the constructing has housed a lodge enterprise for practically a century however is at the moment closed and going through competitors. The Menzies Constructing (1966) subsequent door, a authorities departmental constructing designed by the Ministry of Works, is receiving a radical makeover as a brand new lodge.
4. 1904 – Financial institution of New South Wales
Nook Dee and Tay StreetCuthbert Brodrick
Erected on the location of Invercargill’s very first enterprise premises, this constructing is a key ingredient of Invercargill’s historic ‘Financial institution Nook’. The unique financial institution on the location was designed in 1875 by William Clayton (who served as New Zealand’s first Colonial Architect) however severely broken by hearth a couple of years later. The ornateness of Brodrick’s classical ornament attests to the prosperity generated by the area’s rising agricultural productiveness at first of the century. Brodrick’s inside has been modified however the façade stays comparatively unchanged. Brodrick followers would possibly try the Public Belief Constructing (1921) at 28 Don Avenue, produced throughout his partnership with Thomas Royds.
5. 1905 – St Mary’s Basilica
79 Tyne StreetFrancis Petre
One among New Zealand’s nice ecclesiological architects, Francis Petre is finest identified for his Catholic cathedrals in Dunedin, Wellington and Christchurch, the latter being demolished after the earthquakes. A key ingredient on the Invercargill skyline, the taller-than-wide construction is a condensed Greek Cross, topped by a copper-sheathed dome. The 37m-high inside was handled in a playful however exact method, with creamcoloured arched home windows, quoins and cornices, and a phenomenal stained-glass angel. The modernist neighbours are beauts: McArthur & Boag’s Catholic Presbytery (1964) to the west, and Smith, Rice, Lawrence and Mollison’s now disused St Catherine’s Convent (c. 1966) to the east.
6. 1906 – City Corridor and Civic Theatre
88 Tay StreetEdmund Wilson
Designed with Edwardian baroque gusto by distinguished Southland architect Edmund Wilson, the City Corridor and Theatre mixed municipal places of work, council chambers and a theatre. The advanced was formally reopened in 1930 to mark the proclamation of Invercargill as a metropolis. Refurbishments of the advanced within the Eighties and the 2000s have ensured it stays a state-of-the-art performing arts venue. The encircling space can also be value exploring — check out the neighbouring St John’s Anglican Church and corridor advanced, additionally designed (partly) by Wilson, or take shade beneath the large elm, ash, beech and oak bushes planted within the 1870s.
7. 1915 – First Presbyterian Church
155 Tay StreetJohn Mair
Now a Class 1 historic place, this was Invercargill native John Mair’s first constructing. Coaching beneath William Sharp (itemizing 2) and on the New Zealand Railways beneath George Troup, he later studied within the US after which hung out working in New York and travelling to London. In his historical past of New Zealand structure, Peter Shaw wrote: “Such an eclectic combination of Italian Romanesque and Byzantine components might need been modern in Boston of Philadelphia… In Invercargill, nonetheless, it was thought-about questionable by a congregation extra accustomed to Gothic church structure.” Mair would go on to steer the Public Works Division and, ultimately, be appointed Authorities Architect.
8. 1924 — Anderson Park
91 McIvor RoadCecil Wooden
This home and its leafy grounds have been developed by Sir Robert Anderson, a neighborhood enterprise mogul and, in his later years, philanthropist (Anderson gifted this property to the town). The elegant neo-Georgian homestead was designed by Cecil Wooden, probably the most distinguished Canterbury architect of the interval, and now serves as a public artwork gallery. The grounds are residence to Te Wharepuni o Anehana, its carvings produced by Rotorua tohunga whakairo Tene Waitere (Ngāti Tarāwhai). On the drive out, pop by St Stephen’s Church Centre (1967) at 284 North Highway by native modernists Smith, Rice, Lawrence and Mollison. See Residence & Constructing August 1967.
9. 1956 – Don Avenue Medical Centre
69 Don StreetBarham and Barham
These consulting rooms have been designed by Monica Barham, who was the primary girl registered architect within the Southland and Otago Department of the NZIA, and who labored in a prolific partnership together with her husband Cecil. Barham’s profile has been raised lately by means of the scholarship of Megan Rule, and this challenge was lately the winner of an NZIA Enduring Structure Award (see Structure NZ Sept/Oct 2023), now standing as New Zealand’s earliest female-designed, award-winning constructing. See Structure NZ Might/ June 2024. Barham and Barham employed most of the similar modernist motifs of their Methodist Church (1958) at 56 Foyle Avenue, Bluff.
10. 1967 – Georgetown Baptist Church
51 Centre StreetLew Simpson
One among New Zealand’s underappreciated architectural gems, this ruthlessly summary concrete field appears to be like extra like a transformer station or phone change than a church. The inside is a disciplined synthesis of sunshine, construction and materials — Michael Findlay wrote that “the play of colored mild on the constructing’s inside [is] structure at its simplest and shifting”. The church earned Simpson one in every of two NZIA Nationwide Awards he acquired in 1967 (the opposite was for a close-by home) and he would go on to make quite a few contributions to the town. Cease by his The Cheeky Llama Cafe (1968) in Queens Park, which additionally survives in close to authentic situation.
11. 1978 – Invercargill Railway Station
Leven StreetFord, Grey, Derbie and Hurd
In 1920, following Nice Warfare service that included the battle of Passchendaele, Allan Ford started one of many nice lineages in Invercargill structure. He began solo and his agency advanced into Ford, Grey, Derbie and Hurd, then Baxter Hesselin McDowell Architects (itemizing 12) and, now, Beattie McDowell Architects. Ford was additionally the daddy of Monica Barham (see itemizing 9). Prompted by the 1863 Wakatipu gold rush, the road from Invercargill was simply the second steam railway within the nation however passenger trains stopped operating to Invercargill in 2002. This constructing is now wanting a bit unloved but it surely retains its ’70s swagger. See NZIA Journal April 1975.
12. 1993 – SBS Financial institution Head Workplace
51 Don StreetBarclay Architects and Baxter Hesselin McDowell Architects
The Southland Constructing Society traces its origins again to 1869 when it was based by James Bain, a Southland pioneer who had walked the 200km journey from Dunedin to Invercargill. It has handed by means of varied iterations and is now a fullservice financial institution nonetheless headquartered in Invercargill. Understandably, the challenge sought “to bridge conventional and up to date symbols”. The challenge is likely to be the world’s southernmost instance of PoMo whimsy but it surely offers earnestly with all of the city fundamentals: additional top to stress the nook, articulated volumes to mitigate scale, and lively frontages at road degree. See Structure NZ Might/June 1993.
13. 2021 – Te Rau o Te Huia SIT Centre for Artistic Industries
108 Tay StreetMcCulloch Architects
Supporting fees-free examine on the Southland Institute of Expertise has been a key a part of native efforts to revitalise the town, reinforcing the liveliness supplied by SIT’s campus within the centre of the town. In 2018, SIT acquired the historic St John’s Church adjoining to the campus. The church advanced had been developed by a succession of key native designers, together with McKenzie and Gilbertson, Edmund Wilson (see itemizing 6) and Smith, Rice, Lawrence and Mollison. Work by McCulloch Architects, one other native agency, concerned strengthening, upgrades and additions to create an built-in facility for SIT’s programmes for animation, artwork, design, vogue, movie and music.
14. 2022 – Invercargill Central
67 Esk StreetThe Buchan Group
Invercargill’s central metropolis feels remarkably intact, with mercifully few of the papered-up store home windows or car-park-where-a-buildingused- to-be ellipses that mar the downtowns of lots of our smaller cities. In reality, issues seem like on the up. This shopping center concerned the redevelopment of just about a whole central metropolis block. The challenge required the demolition of 43 buildings, lots of them historic however together with some that have been under-occupied and many who have been earthquake-prone. Heritage values have been served by the retention of notable historic façades on Esk Avenue, and the shared house down this frontage feels very urbane.
OTHER ADDRESSES
Former Masonic Corridor (1864) 32 Kelvin Avenue Taylor & Marchant
Alexandra Buildings (c. 1901) 83 Dee Avenue Cuthbert Brodrick
David Strang (WEA) Constructing (1912) 100 Esk Avenue Richard Marshall
Former Grand Lodge (1913) 76 Dee Avenue Cuthbert Brodrick
Southland Boys’ Excessive Faculty (1926) 181 Herbert Avenue John Mair, Authorities Architect
Former Masonic Corridor (1926) 80 Forth Avenue Brodrick & Royd
Regulation Courts (1938) 35 Don Avenue John Mair, Authorities Architect
St Theresa of Lisieux Church (1956) 40 Perth Avenue Ted McCoy
Scottish Corridor (1957) 112 Esk Avenue Smith and Rice
Kelvin Lodge (1964) 20 Kelvin Avenue Arthur Milne
Don Avenue Redevelopment (2017) 20 Don Avenue McCulloch Architects
Invercargill Estuary Walkway Shelters (2017) Entry from Bond Avenue Beattie McDowell Architects
Invercargill Public Library (2019, refurbished) 50 Dee Avenue Beattie McDowell Architects
The Langlands (2022) 59 Dee Avenue Warren and Mahoney
SOURCES
The primary supply to hunt out is Michael Findlay’s ‘The constructed surroundings’ in Paul Sorrell’s Murihiku: The Southland Story (Invercargill: Southland to 2006 E-book Mission Committee, 2006). One of the best supply on apply within the area is architect Norman Ledgerwood’s incredible Southern Architects: A Historical past of the Southern Department of the New Zealand Institute of Architects (Dunedin: Southern Department of the NZIA, 2009). Ledgerwood’s work apart, Invercargill’s footprint within the literature is — like many different out-of-the-way provincial centres — remarkably small. There are simply 4 buildings (St Mary’s, City Corridor, First Presbyterian and Anderson Park) in Peter Shaw’s Historical past of New Zealand Structure (Auckland: Hodder & Stoughton, 1991) and only one (Georgetown Baptist) in Julia Gatley’s Lengthy Dwell the Trendy: New Zealand’s New Structure, 1904–1984 (Auckland: Auckland College Press, 2008). When wanting additional again, helpful sources are Frances Porter’s Historic Buildings of New Zealand — South Island (Auckland: Methuen, 1983) and the New Zealand Historic Locations Belief’s Historic Constructing of Otago and Southland of 1989.
The Itinerary sequence is supported by Dulux Colors of New Zealand. Dulux Color Specialist Davina Harper has chosen a Colors of New Zealand palette based mostly on this itinerary. See the complete vary and order color samples right here.
